Tourniquet
by RedMonocle
Summary: "How they were now was normal enough, not too intimate or indifferent in any respect. Back then, their relations simply didn't have any room for change. Now, Bonnie couldn't help but wonder exactly how such casual acquaintanceship had led to the ghostlike fire currently trickling through her veins." Bubbline. High school AU. Two-shot. COMPLETE.
1. Swell

**A/N:**

**Okay! So this a playlist fic loosely based off the songs "1000 times" by Sara Bareilles, "Clarity" by Zedd, and "The Walk" by Imogen Heap. Originally, it started out as a sappy sweet hurt/comfort oneshot, but then it devolved (in the best of ways, I suppose) into this sappy sad angst-ish two-shot. Oh well. Fret not, I'll make something happier for these two another time because I can't stand ending sadly for an OTP.  
><strong>

**Also! A few non-series characters make an appearance here, but, just to be clear, they aren't my OCs. They were in an official comic by Meredith Gran ("Marceline and the Scream Queens").  
><strong>

**(Yada yada disclaimer) Characters belong to Pendleton Ward and Meredith Gran. This is _fan_fiction. Need I say more? Nope? Then I do hope you enjoy!  
><strong>

**-Reddie**

* * *

><p>When Marceline first met Bonnie, they were both freshmen.<p>

They weren't friends or anything. They just sat next to each other in geometry that fateful morning of their first day in high school. Marceline was peering down at a dog-eared copy of _Twilight_, and Bonnie was minding her own business, doodling diagrams of diatoms in the margins of her notebook. Still, the copy of the (in)famous novel sitting in her neighbor's lap interested her enough to make her ask if it was any good. Not even bothering to glance over at her, the raven-haired girl merely shrugged, replying that different people liked different things. It was a perfectly acceptable answer, but Bonnie couldn't help but probe further.

"What do you think, though? Of the book, I mean."

At that point, Marceline bothered to turn and look her in the eyes.

"I like it." The tone of her voice was flat and unexpressive, but the glint in her eyes and the curve of her inky lips said otherwise. "If you're into vampires, or just like trashy romance, I'd recommend it." Bonnie merely nodded, making a mental note to perhaps go down to the library later. Though not entirely enticed by the thought of blood-sucking beasts, she was always intrigued in the very least by a half-decent romance story.

It slipped her mind though, and she never did get around to even passing by the library door.

* * *

><p>In tenth grade, Marceline taped her mouth up on the day of silence and wore a yarn-stringed tag around her neck. Bonnie, barely educated by her conservative parents on the societal issues plaguing queer youth, cringed when Marceline sat down beside her in art class that day. Wordlessly, the raven-haired teen offered Bonnie a tag, the strings of many of them dangling from her arm.<p>

"Are you gay?" was all the strawberry blonde could blurt. It was a simple question, requiring no words for a response, just a nod or a shake of the head. But Marceline instead gave a roll of the eyes and dug through her bag for a pen and some paper to scribble up a response.

"_Does it really matter?"_

In a household where Bonnie's father would've most likely shot himself simply at the suggestion of his daughter turning out to be queer, it did. But Bonnie herself was not disgusted. Sure, she was weirded out maybe, but certainly not disgusted. People were entitled to love who they wanted to, and she thought it acceptable for two people of the same sex to be together romantically.

But for familial comfort reasons, she just preferred to be left out of that equation entirely.

"To me, it does." Bonnie responded weakly, tightness to her voice.

Marceline seemed to be shocked by the comment, and she stared for a moment before sitting back down and paying Bonnie no more attention. Still, the question lingered on the strawberry blonde's mind though, but she didn't want to ask again for fear of coming off as too interested. Eventually, Marceline answered it one day during lunch by making out in the hall with Ash, a former classmate from last year's geometry class. So she was definitely straight. And that settled everything.

She thought so at the time, anyway.

* * *

><p>Their junior year, they shared no classes in common, but they came pretty close to it. They both qualified to be in the AP history class, so they both ended up with the same teacher, Mr. Petrikov, but for different periods. Bonnie was in fifth period, and Marceline was in sixth.<p>

Every day, at the end of class, the pink-skinned teen would hold the door open for everyone else and wait for Marceline, just to say hello. There were times when the pale-skinned teen completely disregarded Bonnie, but not intentionally of course, just because of the stress over the DBQ coming up or the chapter test scheduled for the day. Bonnie totally understood, but still… couldn't help but take it personally. Those instances made her feel small, which she absolutely hated.

But then it would all wash over the next day when Marceline's black-lacquered lips would curl up into a sly but sincere smile when she made eye contact with the pink-skinned girl.

"Hey, Bonnie." She'd address her casually, never bothering to thank her for holding the door open. It was slightly irksome at times, that Marceline forgot her manners even when she was paying the strawberry blonde some attention, but Bonnie had deemed it only a minor, miniscule offense. It was something she could live with, and something she learned to ignore.

All in all, Bonnie was complacent with being neither Marceline's friend nor her enemy. How they were now was normal enough, not too intimate or indifferent in any respect. Back then, their relations simply didn't have any room for change. Now, Bonnie couldn't help but wonder exactly how such casual acquaintanceship had led to the ghostlike fire currently trickling through her veins.

* * *

><p>September of their senior year was where heaven and hell began together, all at once.<p>

* * *

><p>Supposedly, the talent show auditions had set the gears of their fate in motion.<p>

For Marceline and her friends, the opportunity to play together for an audience _for the first time ever_ was too good to pass up. The coming auditions got them all pumped up and excited, and for weeks it was all they could talk about. Then, when the buzz of frenzied eagerness died away, reality came crashing down on their raven-haired bass player.

Marceline couldn't help but feel nervous, like they wouldn't make the cut.

They didn't have a lot of practice together, with everyone there at the same time, but they still rehearsed on their own when they could. Often, Bobby (or Bongo, as he liked to be called) and Keila weren't free for practice when she and Guy were, but still, it didn't stop her. She'd break out her bass, drag the keyboard out of the closet, and coax her stoic pianist friend into playing with her. Time and time again, Guy would tell her to chill. Yet, unable to help herself, she still got worked up. It was their senior year. Keila and Bongo were juniors, so this was their last opportunity to play a gig together before graduation split everyone up.

Then the time came for auditions.

Bonnie, now maintaining a position as student body president, had an obligation to attend every school event and oversee student activities. The talent show was one of those events where her presence was necessitated. She would've liked to help choose which acts would be in the talent show, but there were already others appointed to fulfilling that duty. So she sat there, through every act, bored out of her mind and desperately yearning to go home… until a shaky Marceline stepped onstage, her buddies trailing right behind her.

When her eyes met Bonnie's, all the butterflies in Marceline's stomach instantly melted away. She introduced their band, "Marceline and the Scream Queens", then laid down the first strum, and Keila, taking that as a cue to start the song, began to strum the main tune. Bongo and Guy followed suit, laying down a soft but snappy beat and striking some low, light chords on the keys. They all filled up the whole auditorium with sounds of pure acoustic passion. And once their audition ended, Bonnie watched silently as Marceline descended from the stage, shooting a wink and a whisper her way.

"Hey, Bonnie."

For a second, there were lights in the pink-skinned teen's eyes—not stage lights, but the kind of electric sparkle that flashed behind her eyelids when she was… in love.

And the strawberry blonde spent the rest of her evening convincing herself that there was no way she was attracted to Marceline, that she was straight and there was no way she'd ever like a _girl_, no matter how cool or talented or sexy or… well, shit.

Turning out the lights in her room, she figured sleep would drown away such thoughts.

* * *

><p>Bonnie shouted a curse, quelling her voice at the last possible minute for fear of waking up her parents. Judging from the silence outside her room, she hadn't, giving her worthy cause to sigh in relief.<p>

The strawberry blonde began to sit up, knocking the back of her skull against the headboard in the process. With an inaudible whine, she moved at hand over the aching area shortly, before pulling her hands through her tangled, sweat-sticky locks. Her heart was thudding like she'd just finished running laps and her skin felt warm all over. Not to mention she was feeling pretty light-headed.

Hazy thoughts regained clarity as they tossed up images of obscene noises slipping past soft lips, tongues tying together smoothly like satin ribbons, and fingers tangling in long thick hair. The smell and feel of Marceline's pale, tender skin under her clothes had been seared into Bonnie's memory against her will. Everything felt so real and looked so vivid, like she'd actually done such things with her friend. The pink-skinned teen shivered once she made a coherent thought out of those mental fragments.

Completely remembering the near-wet dream—no, nightmare—she woke up from, her face burned against the frigid night air. Covering up her eyes and cheeks with her cold hands, she groaned and let out a dry sob. This was the fifth time this week.

If there was an off-button to these dreams, she'd press it in a heartbeat.

* * *

><p>Now, presidential duty demanded Bonnie's reluctant presence at the talent show, not that she had exactly dreaded going in the first place.<p>

She was just… hesitant to encounter her bass-playing acquaintance again after last week's recurring nightmare. But she _was_ going to end up seeing Marceline again, regardless of desires for otherwise. After all, she had responsibilities to fulfill and Marceline's band _had _indeed been chosen as the closing act.

To her misfortune, she had been seated front and center for the event. Even worse, all acts had seats reserved in the front row.

As per usual, Marceline sat right next to her.

"Hey, Bonnie." The bass player greeted coolly, undertones of delight coating her voice. The student president noticed that Marceline wasn't wearing her usual black lipstick.

Timidly, Bonnie managed to get out, "Hi, Marceline."

Surprise made itself evident on the pale-skinned girl's features, and Bonnie saw it immediately. Blushing, she shied away, not wanting to pursue further conversation. Hoping to divert the raven-haired girl's attention away from her, she drew her phone out of her bag and pretended to text someone. Marceline took the bait and set her sights on the stage.

The lead guitarist nudged, causing Marceline to shift her attention to the guitarist in question.

"Who's that?" Keila whispered with a grin, like she knew something about Bonnie.

"Friend I met in geometry back in ninth grade. Her name's Bonnie."

"She's cute." Guy commented, perhaps a bit loudly. The strawberry blonde heard him and blushed further, hiding her face behind her phone.

Marceline smiled, "I know, isn't she?" Bonnie couldn't believe her ears. But before she could turn to the bass player and make some sort of rejoinder, the lights dimmed and the show began. The band was completely focused on the entertainers, but Bonnie's mind was on the girl beside her. Suddenly, she was obsessed again with figuring out if Marceline was gay or not.

Perhaps it was just an off-handed comment! After all, there was nothing abnormal about a straight girl admiring another girl's looks. Women were generally vain by nature, after all (or at least that was what her mother had raised her to believe). Her curvaceous best friend Lu always spent quite a while in front of the mirror, admiring her "lumps", so speak. And Lu always complimented Bonnie, constantly saying that she was "too flipping gorgeous to not have a boyfriend already". So Marceline was still most assuredly straight.

But as she came to this conclusion, intermission had struck, Marceline's friends had left to take a snack/pee break, and the raven-haired girl's hand was on hers.

Slowly, Bonnie lifted her gaze until it met Marceline's.

"It's been a while since we chatted it up, _Bonnibel_." She said softly, playfully. "How've things been?" Bonnie glanced between their hands and Marceline's eyes. Suggestive images started to reappear in the student president's head. She blinked tightly, hoping to shoo such thoughts away. "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"

Embarrassed that Marceline didn't seem to realize that their hands were touching, she had to bring it up verbally.

"I, uh… _why_ are you touching my hand?"

Marceline only laughed and curled her fingers around Bonnie's.

Pretty soon, the lights dimmed back down, Marceline's friends came rushing back to their seats, and the show started up again.

"Five more acts before we're on!" Keila squealed under her breath, giddy with excitement.

_No one_ else seemed to notice the bass player's hand wrapped around Bonnie's.

* * *

><p>When the time came for their turn to grace the stage, Marceline stepped up with confidence in her stride. Keila began, playing a mellifluous, soothing riff, low and slow. In turn, Bongo tapped out a simple, subtle beat, cuing Guy to key in some feather-light chords to the same tune as the lead's riff. And Marceline strummed on her bass, came up to the microphone, took in a breath, and sang in a dusk-sweet voice.<p>

_Everything you do, and everything you say_

_ It just drives me nuts, but in the very best way_

_ And there's no way I'll say it, that's just not what I do_

_But, baby, you're special, so I'll sing it for you_

_I don't want to leave this place _

_Without kissing that pretty pink face_

_Yeah, you and I, we may not match up,_

_But one chance with you is more than enough_

Marceline had written the song for Bonnie.

It was a first, but not exactly. She'd had fallen in love before with Ash (before she found out what a jerkwad he was, of course) and a couple of other exes. She had her scattered crushes here and there too, but something about Bonnie was _different_. Marceline usually ruled straight-laced girls like the student president off her list, but, for some stupid reason, the strawberry blonde was on her mind at night, in those lost hours before she fell asleep. On lonely nights, the sound of Bonnie's giggles would fill the raven-haired teen's head, and, sometimes, it would be so magical and inspiring that Marceline would pick up her bass and start strumming up a new melody. It came to a point where the bass player felt empty when she heard that laughter, because it was only a product of her imagination. She yearned to sit beside her pink-skinned friend again, to witness Bonnie's shy smile in the very least if she couldn't hear her laugh.

And now, her affection grew to the point where she just wanted Bonnie.

_Everything you do, and everything you say_

_ It just drives me nuts, but in the very best way_

_ And there's no way I'll say it, that's just not what I do_

_But, baby, you're special, so I'll sing it for you_

And Bonnie, completely immersed in and enchanted by the rich sound of Marceline's voice and bass… started to want the raven-haired girl too.

After the show, the student president met with her in front of the auditorium, complimented Marceline and her friends on their performance, and stood there awkwardly for a moment, not really wanting to say goodbye.

Then Marceline suggested, "Do you…" The bass player dug her phone out of her bag, "want my number? So you could like, you know, text me sometime?"

With the most endearing giggle Marceline could've ever hoped to hear, Bonnie said yes.

* * *

><p>Bonnie didn't text her raven-haired friend anytime soon after the talent show. But the thought of sending a text Marceline's way had crossed her mind on more than one occasion.<p>

Unfortunately, being the perfectionist she was, the student president always put too much thought into what she'd say, and thusly always ended up chickening out whenever she had both her phone and free time at hand.

In October, she did end up sending her first text to Marceline. Just a nudge from a friend was all she needed to finally do it…

* * *

><p>Finn was sitting lopsided on his bed, scrolling dazedly through his dashboard on Oooblr that night when his phone pinged with a message from his friend (and former crush back in elementary school) Bonnie. He smiled a little to himself, happy to know he could still be of help to her, even though the high school she attended now was so far from his own.<p>

After liking a post from vampire-queen's music blog, he took up his phone and unlocked it, scooting backwards so that his dog Jake (named after his big bro, of course) could hop onto the bed next to him. Jake slowed his wagging tail and settled down to sit calmly, Finn running a hand down his silky coat.

**{finn i need some advice. text back soon please?}**

**['sup, pirncess bubblegum?] **He replied with a grin, reminiscing on their elementary school days. She'd gotten the nickname from her gum-chewing habit back in fifth grade, since she used the gum to calm herself down before big tests all the time.

** {hey! :D i've got a social dilemma on my hands right now :/} **

** [wat's the dealio?]**

** {there's a girl i want to text but i don't know how to go about it…}**

Finn chuckled.** [wow im shokced. YOu of all ppl not being able 2 send a text? :p]**

**{it's… kind of complicated?}**

**[liek how?]**

**{…i'm not sure :/} **

Finn snorted out a bit of laughter this time.**[c'mon. i no there's mor 2 it than that…]**

**{i just… i kind of think she's...} **Bonnie hesitated for a moment but then mentally smacked herself. This was Finn and she knew she could trust him not to judge her. She wanted to say something like "alluring" or "gorgeous" but it ended up coming out as **{REALLY CUTE}**_. _Completely abashed, Bonnie grabbed her pillow and hid her face behind it. Upon the sound of her phone beeping with Finn's reply, she flinched shortly, a squeaking noise escaping her throat in surprise. She lowered her pillow slightly to peer at her phone.

**[so u like her thne?]**

**{NO!} **

**{…yes?}**

**{i don't know!}**

**[D'AWW wat's her name?]**

**{marceline abadeer.}**

**[how long hav u known her?]**

**{since 9th grade}**

Then she paused and added, **{but we haven't talked that much since sophomore year}**

**{i'm not sure what to say to her}**

**{and like I want to hang out with her but}**

**{I DON'T KNOW OTL}**

**{I keep OVERTHINKING this I just AS;DKFJHASK}**

**[dude chill :P]**

**[sounds to me like u jsut need a confidence boost, peebs]**

**[be cool \(^o^)/ it'll be fine]**

**[u can do it!~]**

**[*~`\(^o^)/`~*~`\(^o^)/`~*~`\(^o^)/`~*~`\(^o^)/`~*]**

The faces were too much. Empowered by the adorable hilarity of Finn's last text, the student president dug out Marceline's number, giggling all the while.

**{hey marceline :) it's me, bonnie~ i was wondering if we could hang out sometime?} **

**((:D sure! i'd love to hang out~))**

**((actually, there's this halloween bash the rec hall in Dulce Park where my buds and I are gonna perform. there's gonna be tons of candy and they're gonna be giving out glowsticks, all that good stuff. so if youre free that night…?))**

**{i'd love to come :) what time's the party? ;3} **Bonnie drew back nervously after sending the text. The winky face might've been a little much, but Marceline didn't seem to mind.

**((starts 8pm. see u there, Bonnie ;3))**

* * *

><p>What could she say? Halloween snuck up on her and she forgot to ask her parents. She'd already told Marceline she'd be there. And when Finn suggested she sneak out, how could she refuse the idea? She made a commitment and she had to stick to it!<p>

The pink-skinned teen worked a thick wad of gum between her molars as she nervously watched the city lights go by outside the car window. The driver, Finn's older brother and guardian, cast a brief concerned glance to his passenger in the back.

"You alright there," he bit back a giggle at the pun addressing her costume, "Princess?"

"Jake, this is so wrong. I've never gone out without my parent's permission! Never!" Bonnie moaned, concealing her face behind her hands.

Jake laughed, "Relax! It's all cool. I'll sneak you home before midnight. They'll never know."

"Oh, it's so wrong, _so_ wrong…"

"C'mon. It's not like you do this _all_ the time." Pulling up next to the park, he looked back at her and said, "Lighten up a little. A good kid like you deserves to let loose and have fun every once in a while."

A tentative smile crept onto her face.

"Thanks a lot, Jake."

"Hey, no problem. See you around midnight."

* * *

><p>Even from a distance, the windows and open doors to the rec hall exuded more light than public street lanterns along the park pathways. The illumination's colors flashed in sharp oranges, deep reds, radioactive greens and sultry violets. The faint sound of passionate rock music was inviting to the student president's ears, and soon, she found herself stepping forward, caught in its aural enchantment.<p>

She spit her gum out into the trash bin, her tension from earlier melting away.

Lifting her skirt off the ground (so as not to get it dirty), Bonnie traipsed on her way over to the party. At the door, someone in a snail costume waved at her and handed her one of the glowhoops from off his neck and a sizeable sack of candy from a basket at his feet. With a terse nod, she gave him tacit thanks and entered. Immediately, the lights dimmed down to a hushed cobalt glow and the music softened as well, though the drummer kept a partial upbeat edge with his light, snappy percussion.

Excited, Bonnie squeezed her way through the crowd, emerging at the front the moment Marceline began to sing.

* * *

><p><em>Just let it go, let it go<em>

_Let the twilight sink beneath your skin_

_Just let it show, let it show_

_Let the starlight shine from deep within_

_You've got a whole lot hidden underneath those angel wings_

_Why not just take flight and let go of all those little things_

_Let them go, let them go_

Spying a glance at her pretty princess friend, Marceline's lips briefly curled into a sly smirk and her voice intensified alongside the music.

_Fly into the night with me_

_Oh, we'll see everything_

_We'll dance under the moonlight_

_To the music the stars bring_

_I have at least a thousand words I wanna say to you_

_But the words all melt to chords and so_

_This song will have to do_

Unsurprisingly, this had been yet another song written for Bonnie too. Not that Marceline had the guts to publicly declare that anytime soon. And the gum-loving princess was rapt from beginning to end by this melody and all others that followed. Finally, by the time the band finished up, the first person to saunter up to the strawberry blonde was none other than the lead singer herself, dressed up as a sexy vampire.

Marceline, a bit tipsy off several cups of the caramel apple "punch" (which was actually a cocktail of mint schnapps, caramel liqueur and apple cider), greeted her friend warmly and offered the princess a medium cup of the sweet concoction. Unaware of the presence of alcohol at this party, Bonnie happily accepted the offer.

She was aware after the first sip, but, with the bass player eyeing her so welcomingly, she could care less. And she drank to her heart's delight, letting said heart take charge over her head for once. Marceline was trustworthy. She'd watch out for the student president.

But the raven-haired teen ended up as drunk as Bonnie, rendering her an unreliable defense against whatever was out to get either of them. Inhibited emotions revealed themselves through a conversation between eyes and the rec hall suddenly felt way too stuffy. They excused themselves outside for a bit to cool off… and ended up tangling tongues under the protective shadow of a tree. It could've ended up as just a secret between the two of them, but, against their knowledge, two people had been following them. And one of them had it out for Marceline.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

**So there! Cliffhanger! The ending has been prolonged for now. And this website totally decimated my text conversations (but that's beside the point :P). So, farewell, friends, until next update (soon! if not tomorrow).**

**-Reddie**


	2. Droplet

**A/N:**

**Starting from here, the tone of the story plummets into something else entirely. Here's where the angst stuff comes in. Gets a little violent, both in the physical and emotional sense. Just a fair warning.  
><strong>

**Carry on as you wish, friends. **

**-Reddie**

* * *

><p>Discreetly, the hater among the two snapped a picture of the smooching pair and made a run for it, but not without a chase from the pair's other follower, Keila.<p>

She caught the malicious photographer, yanking him by the back of his cloak hood to face her. His phone clattered on the ground, revealing the pic of the student president making out with her friend. The lead guitarist shot her hand out to snatch up the phone and delete the picture, but her adversary was too quick for her. He held his phone high, letting it dangle oh so slightly above Keila's reach.

She snarled, baring her plastic fangs, "Ash, you jerk! You better delete that picture or I'll—!"

"Or you'll what, small fry?" He taunted.

She fumed, "I'LL BITE YOUR FLIPPIN' HAIR OFF, BUTTFACE!"

Ash snorted, "Ha! I doubt you can even reach my hair!" Furious, she started clawing at him. Without hesitation, he roughly kneed her in the chest, sending her tumbling backwards. "What's so wrong with a little pic of a couple of dykes kissing anyhow? It'd be a great addition to—" he dropped into a more sinister tone, "the school newspaper." Keila paled. Every student subscribed to the school newspaper would get the memo via blog update if not by snail mail.

"SHUT YOUR FACE!" Keila stomped. "YOU WOULDN'T DARE! YOU KNOW WHAT MAKING THAT PIC PUBLIC WOULD DO!" Those words stung once they came out. As much as she wished it wasn't true, she knew how many ignorant, bigoted families lived on her block, and she knew all too well how this town felt about anyone who didn't identify as cisgender and straight. Sure, the school might've had a day of silence, but everyone seemed to be under the illusion that even if their friends were wearing the tag that day, their buddies couldn't _possibly_ be queer. Not to mention, the school's GSA had mysteriously vanished as of sophomore year.

"Of course." Ash replied flatly, tucking his phone away, making sure to kick Keila down again for good measure. "After all the humiliation, this'll definitely send Marcy out of this dumb phase and right back in to my arms." The lead guitarist was absolutely repulsed.

"Think about Bonnie though!" Keila blurted. "She's student body president. You can't just deface her like that!" She couldn't help but fear for the strawberry blonde. School was one thing, but home was another affair completely. At least Marceline had sanctuary at home. But what if the student president's parents weren't accepting at all? How much more damage would that do to Bonnie?

Ash could only laugh harder.

"Pft! That's her own fault, downing the punch like it's her twenty-first birthday. Pretty irresponsible for someone in her position, if you ask me." He turned away and started for the rec hall, but Keila wasn't going to just leave it at that.

Still down but not out, she called, "You think this blackmail will make Marceline take you back? She'd sooner bite everyone else's butt than kiss yours!" This stopped him dead in his tracks and made him turn straight around to stomp back up to her.

Unimaginable hate twisting up on his face, he grabbed Keila by the shirt collar and threatened in a low voice, "Get away from me _right now_ before I break your fingers." Once he released his grip on her and let her fall back to ground, Keila straggled away in tears.

He hadn't busted her up too bad. Bruises were in places that could easily be covered by clothes. And, in spite of herself, she decided not to tell anyone, let alone Marceline and Bonnie, about what had just happened, for fear how much more damage Ash was capable of.

* * *

><p>Not yet aware of what had happened, Marceline and Bonnie sat snuggled together under the tree, tracing constellations in the sky with the ends of their glow sticks and tossing friendly inquiries back and forth.<p>

Bonnie posed, "Favorite animal?"

"Baby fruit bats. They're all fuzzy and tiny and cute, you know. And you?"

"Not sure actually. Condors, I guess." She shrugged. The vampire chuckled.

"And now we come to the dreaded question… your favorite color?"

The princess only giggled, "Pink. And yours?"

"Red." She placed a hand over Bonnie's, who was able to muster up enough punch-given courage to twine their fingers together. "You and I aren't that far apart. Pink's just a lighter tint of red."

"True. And they're Valentine's colors."

"That's cute."

"So are you." Bonnie giggled quietly, causing the vampire's face to turn their favorite color. Her eyes roamed to Marceline's plastic glow-in-the-dark fangs, and her thoughts wandered all the way back to ninth grade, where they first talked to each other over a copy of_ Twilight_. She could barely believe they were seniors now. "Still like vampires, huh?"

"Yeah, totally. I like your costume too."

"…Where are you planning on going to college?"

Marceline retracted her hand ever so slightly at the question. "I dunno. I was gonna go on moratorium for like a year before thinking about that. I might not even go if things work out with the band. I mean, my buds and I have always dreamed of going on tour since we all first got together, you know? Cheesy, but…"

Bonnie nodded, "You guys play _really_ well. I think you'd all have a good shot at making a name for yourselves."

"You really think so?" The bass player's voice perked up.

"Definitely." With this, Marceline's head fell against the princess's shoulder, "How 'bout you? What are your dreams?"

"I've… always wanted to be a marine biologist." She admitted. "Not like for fish or seaweed or anything, but for like… plankton. Like diatoms and dinoflagellates."

"Dinoflagellates?"

"Yeah… they make the ocean glow at night. It's this thing called phosphorescence. It's really cool." Distracted, the pink-skinned teen lifted her glowstick and traced out another pattern in the sky. "Look, a bunny."

They tipsily chattered on into the night until the clock struck twelve (or rather, Bonnie's phone went off close to midnight) and the princess had to return home before her parents discovered she had snuck out.

* * *

><p>Luckily for the budding pair, Ash put his conniving plans on hold because he was feeling discouraged and insecure over what the guitarist had said to him the other night.<p>

"_She'd sooner bite everyone else's butt than kiss yours!"_

Angrily, he grabbed his phone, ready to send a threat with the picture to Marceline. The thought of his number, deleted from her contacts, surged through his head. For a second, he could feel her fear at receiving blackmail from an unknown source. His hand trembled… and he chickened out. He wasn't exactly mentally prepared for the emotional destruction of his ex's social life yet… even if she had stomped all over his heart with her coming out as bi, which led him to (incorrectly) believe that she was cheating on him with some chick at the time.

Then he comforted himself with his own misguided thoughts. He came to the fallacious conclusion that it was just a phase, she was just confused, that people were either gay or straight, period. But reality did not align with his beliefs. Marceline had never cheated on him, and she was most certainly _not _confused.

Not that he ever bothered to listen to her explanations the second directly after she made the big reveal. He just stormed out of Mr. Petrikov's room in tears, never bothering to return, never bothering to answer her texts, never bothering to just _talk_ when they came in contact at school, until she finally put her foot down and decided he wasn't worth the hassle anymore.

He remembered her last text to him.

_**((you wanna be that way? FINE. CONSIDER US DONE. IT'S OVER YOU PSYCHO))**_

If Ash was good at anything, he was good at holding onto shit. He held onto their pictures. He held onto her number. And he held onto both his hatred and his love for her.

Chucking his phone to the side, he huffed, "I'll give 'em 'til Christmas to back off each other."

* * *

><p>A few weeks passed, and they hadn't communicated since. Marceline, casually browsing through Oooblr, decided to text Bonnie. Halloween was a blurry, jumbled affair but she did indeed remember what happened. Bonnie hadn't said anything to her since though, so she wanted to make sure that whatever went down wasn't just some trippy dream.<p>

** ((Hey, Bonnie ;3))**

**{hey~}**

**((watchu been upta?))**

The strawberry blonde began to reply, but the muffled shouting of her parents jarred her out of her train of thought. She sighed. Whenever Thanksgiving approached, it always came down to this verbal brawl of spending turkey day with Dad's side versus Mom's side.

"This is the fourth year we've spent Thanksgiving with your family! Don't tell me this year makes five!"

"I don't get what _your_ deal is! We spend _every_ Christmas with _your_ parents, after all!"

The pink-skinned teen rolled her eyes. Oh shit, they were bringing _Christmas_ into it now. Plugging in a couple of earphones filled with blaring orchestral melodies, Bonnie resumed her text conversation.

**{ignoring my parents' arguments. :P how about you?}**

**((just sitting home alone, scrolling through Oooblr, eating sushi.))**

**((boredom central :p))**

**((sorry bout your situation though :/))**

**{it's fine :p}**

As she tapped this out on her phone, Marceline came across a four-line poem post on her dash.

_Admirer, hasten not your falling_

_Until certain of your heart's true calling_

_Love that blooms before its time_

_Does far too often fade and die_

Marceline nodded at it, before deeming it worthy of a like and a reblog. She placed a sliver of pink ginger over her tuna roll before stuffing it in her mouth.

**{…you wanna hang out at my place? i can pick you up.}**

**{it'll whisk you away from the clutches of boredom and shut my parents up. :P}**

The bass player sighed longingly. She wished.

**((as much as i'd love too, i can't. my dad needs me to watch the house while he's gone. sorry, hon.)) **Bonnie's head reeled for a second. Had she read that right?

**((i mean bon))**

**((as in bonnie because I meant bonnie)) **

**((but i sent it too early by accidetn))**

**((lol oops))**

**{haha, its ok :p}**

Marceline was usually haphazard when it came to texting, but suddenly, she felt self-conscious enough to pause for a second. But then, she shook her hesitation out of her head and deemed her text appropriately innocuous for sending.

**((how about you come over to my palce?))**

**((unless your parents have sotpped arguing already or soemthing))**

Against her usual nature, Bonnie replied without much forethought.

**{i'd love to come over}**

"Oh, _shit_!" She groaned, slapping a hand over her forehead once she realized what she'd just done. She hadn't even asked her parents! Fantastic, simply fantastic, _here's_ to guilty conscience and sneaking out _again_!

**((great!))**

**((I live close to Dulce park))**

**((so you can find me by the rec center, ok?))**

**{sounds good ^_^}**

**{i'll text you when I get there}**

**((alright see ya soon))**

Before she even got up, the strawberry blonde's mother abruptly called to her, "Bonnibel? Could you go out and get some pumpkin pie? We really, _really_, need some!"

"Oh! Sure, Mom."

* * *

><p>They met up at the park, and the student president escorted her friend to the car and politely opened the door up for her friend. Under Marceline's guidance, she drove them a couple of blocks down to the bass player's house, and there they perused Oooblr posts on Marceline's laptop and finished off the sushi together. After goofing around with the wasabi, they decided ice cream would be a good remedy to their blazing mouths.<p>

Marceline, swiftly switching over from Oooblr to her music library, then got up to procure three spoons, two bowls, a carton of vanilla frozen dairy, a jar of cookie butter, and a bottle of hot fudge… and some whipped cream, maraschino cherries, and peppermint sprinkles. Even with the insistent fire on her burning tongue, she had a _serious_ sweet tooth right now, so she hoped Bonnie didn't mind waiting a moment more.

Upon her return, the pink-skinned teen seemed delighted by all the sweet stuffs in her friend's arms.

Handing her a spoon and a bowl, the raven-haired girl chimed, "Ice cream time." Marceline jammed the biggest spoon into the semi-firm vanilla dessert, then dug out a hunk of the stuff and dropped it her bowl before going back to put some in Bonnie's. Meanwhile, the strawberry blonde was preoccupied reading over the topping labels.

"Choose Goose™ crunchy cookie butter?"

"Oh, that stuff is _so _good," Marceline said, grabbing the jar from Bonnie and using her guest's unused spoon to scoop out a gritty glob of caramel-colored spread, "you just gotta try some with ice cream. It's _so_ good." The pale-skinned girl gave back Bonnie her spoon, watching as the she smeared the stuff atop her ice cream before sticking the spoon in her mouth with a hum of approval.

"Try it with the ice cream."

Sampling the cookie-buttered ice cream, her eyes went wide, "Mm!"

"Told you."

They sat there quietly for a moment, listening to the music floating through the air between them. The playlist shifted from something called "Fries Song" to a demo called "Dream Log, p. 14 (revised)".

_ All the things you do, and all the things you say_

_ It drives me so nuts, but in the very best way_

_ And there's no way I'll say it, not something I think I can do_

_But, baby, you've caught me, so I'll sing it for you_

_I don't want to leave this place _

_Without kissing that pretty pink face_

_Yeah, you and I, we may not match up,_

_But one chance with you is more than enough_

"Oh, hey!" Bonnie perked up, "Isn't that the song you guys played at the talent show?"

"Yeah." Marceline crossed her arms, looking a little proud. "Wrote the lyrics myself."

"It sounds… different."

Marceline laughed, ruffling her friend's hair, "Well, duh! It's a demo!"

_Give me just one little chance_

_To show you my side of romance_

_Our love story would end up so small_

_So let's start it now, or there's no story at all _

"I really like this song." The student president commented gently, loud enough for the singer to turn to her with an expression of pure delight.

"Really?"

"Yeah, really!" then, shyly, she added, "I like all your songs. The concert at the park was amazing."

Immediately, the raven-haired teen was so ready to say it was written for Bonnie. She was so ready to tell the student president just how hard she fell for her.

But then it occurred to her that she fell too hard too fast.

_"Love that blooms before its time_

_Does far too often fade and die"_

Shaking the poetry of her head, she sighed regretfully.

"Something wrong?"

"It's nothing." Looking away from her, Marceline murmured, "Thanks. That means a lot coming from you." Bonnie couldn't help but smile at that.

Before Marceline could say anything more, a chirpy ringtone sounded off and the call it held whisked Bonnie away to her car. And the singer, now all alone her house once again, unwillingly began to drift back a couple of years through her memories.

What _was_ love? In her most recent experience, it was something warm that used to hold the face of Ash. Now, it seemed like something sweltering that held the blurry face of Bonnie. And the want for her ached, almost as bad as it did right after she told Ash she loved him.

* * *

><p><em>It happened at lunch, on a Tuesday.<em>

"_Hey, you two." Mr. Petrikov waved the print-out as he nudged a foot in the door, "I need to go run some copies real quick. If someone comes by, I'll be back in a jiffy, alright?"_

_Ash and Marceline chimed in unison, "'Kay." With a wry little smile, their teacher and good friend then departed from the room to run his errand. As the door clicked shut, the boy sitting next to her on the desk jumped down and clambered over to the window. His girlfriend followed suit, and they stood there together, watching as the clouds closed up the only hole of blue in the sky._

_Then, Ash muttered, "I really love you, Marcy." The comment never failed to make her blush, but as much as she appreciated and reciprocated the sentiment, she felt like he'd been overusing that phrase lately. Even so… she thought it was high time she said it back._

"_I love you too, Ash. Just as much." And she figured, now was a better time than never to come out to him. "That's why… there's something I think you should know about me." It had been on her mind for a long while. After their make-out session on the day of silence last year, Ash made an intimate reveal about his most cumbersome insecurity: the feeling that someday, someone who was more man than he was would come along and steal her away. And she could only shake her head and run a hand through his hair, hoping that would be enough to convey to him that such a scenario would never occur. _

_Now she felt it was only right to open up to him too. To her, the sincerely spoken phrase "I love you" was something sweethearts exchanged when they felt they could trust one another profoundly if not completely. _

"_What is it, babe?"_

_She meant for it to be confessed gently, yet with a tone of absolute certainty. But his tender gaze made her melt out of her internal balance, and it came out more like a blurted, nervous statement._

"_I-I'm bi! I-I… I like girls too, so... so..." She didn't know how to finish her sentence.  
><em>

"_So you've been cheating on me with another girl?" There were tears shaking his voice, and then he exploded, "HOLY SHIT, MARCY! I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU LOVED ME!" All the tenderness in his expression had by then utterly disappeared. The delicate stick-structure of trust and love precariously and so previously completed between them began to tumble down over the pair and bury them alive._

_Ash stormed out of the room, sobbing, and before Marceline could call out to him, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch._

Marceline groaned, no longer wishing to be pained by the loss of the boy who not only once her boo, but also her buddy, her _friend_.

She didn't know what was worse: losing someone she used to see a future with or loving someone she knew she had no future with at all.

* * *

><p>December snuck up on them.<p>

Approaching finals had everyone frenzied, but somehow, in the midst of all the DBQs, study packets and last-minute worksheets, Bonnie still found the time and the energy to hang out with her friend Lu at the mall the Sunday before.

"Like, gurl, you don't even know! This freshman kid, he like totally has the _hots_ for me. Like seriously!" Lu giggled, "But then again, who _doesn't_ want my lumps?" She gestured suggestively over her body with her hands, mortifying a passing mother with her toddler. Bonnie would've usually chided Lu at that point, but today, she was way too winded from traces of school-related stress. The most she was capable of was an involuntary chuckle, because she was so far beyond the point of caring at the moment.

With a careworn smile, Bonnie shook her head, "But of course, Lu, but of course."

"Like, yeah! You _totally_ get me, Bons! See, _this_ is why I love the fact we're flippin' friends." As she nodded in reply, something suddenly caught her off-guard.

"Bat." The strawberry blonde blurted gently. From the window of some store, a big shiny plastic bat with candy-apple eyes peered at her. It hung around the neck of a mannequin bust off the end of a silver necklace chain. Impulsively, Bonnie darted towards the store door, leaving Lu to chase after her.

"Hey, gurl, wait up! Where are you going all of a sudden?"

* * *

><p>After school the following Monday, Bonnie handed the present over to its raven-haired recipient.<p>

Marceline's eyes widened, "Holy cow, is this for me?"

"Yeah! Merry Christmas, Marceline."

"Wow, thanks, Bon!" Too impatient and excited to see what her friend had gotten her, she asked, "Um, can I open it now?"

"Yeah! Knock yourself out!"

When the bass player opened it up, an expression of utter glee set her face aglow, and the warmth of her smile caused Bonnie's eyes to flicker with tenderness and affection.

"Bonnie… I can't even—just, whoa. This is _awesome_!"

The pink-skinned teen gave her a small smile, "I knew you'd like it."

She pulled the student president into a hug, "Thank you so much! I'll wear it every day."

Tentatively, the embrace was returned, but not briefly. They stood wrapped in one another's arms in the hall longer than considered merely friendly. And Bonnie, with pleading eyes and waiting lips, gazed lovingly up at her friend, tacitly asking if anything more could exist between them.

And with the gentle meeting of their lips, Marceline silently replied a tender, candid "yes".

Tears fell from the eyes of the jealous boy watching them as he sank to the ground against the wall. Ash hadn't meant to see that. He'd just been passing through the hall on the way back to get something from his locker. Now, _this_ was too much for him to bear.

Walking home from school that day, he shakily typed out a threat and sent it with the picture to Marceline. He expected to feel like a weight had been lifted off of him once it was done.

But instead, his chest felt incredibly empty.

* * *

><p><em>"Uh, Marceline… I need to … I just… you know, th-that make-out we had at the Halloween party? Just so it's super clear, i-it… wasn't… just some stupid thing I did while I was drunk. Because I really, really like you."<em>

_ "…I thought you were straight?"_

_Bonnie heaved a great sigh, "Well, at the start of this year, so did I. And then the talent show happened and I just… you kinda hooked me in somehow." Then after she cleared her throat, she murmured, "I don't know, I just… I'm kind of wondering if you'd ever consider… us being together?" _

Marceline wanted to say yes so bad, but she'd been caught off-guard, disoriented by the sound of words she never thought she'd hear Bonnie say. Her head was spinning so fast that it seemed like such a bad idea to give a ready, overeager answer right away.

_So the bass player had said, "I'd have to think about it first."_

It wouldn't leave her head as she flew for home down the streets on her bike. She'd been so ready to say yes… but somehow, saying yes right away felt like setting herself up for heartbreak, like saying "I love you" to Ash all over again.

And with a text and a picture, it had been Ash to once again send her heart crashing down to the floor in Marceline's room. It was a Friday winter afternoon, and a raven-haired teen slumped in the corner of her room listening to sweet, happy love songs, her cheeks made warm with tears instead of a blush.

She remembered her place, a small-town musician longing to make it big someday, and reminded herself of Bonnie's, a student body president who upheld her position so damn well. They were both looking skyward with their wings spread, ready to touch the dream clouds of their separate futures. And Marceline realized, the feelings hidden away in her chest were a wildfire that could destroy the wings of their dreams should she have chosen to ignite the bond between them both.

* * *

><p>The Monday school resumed, Marceline had been the one to say that it wouldn't work out between them. Bonnie didn't press further. She never asked why. She just took it and they progressed into the year as friends and nothing more. She was fine with it, a little relieved even, that they never got together.<p>

Still, thoughts of what could've been niggled at the student president, and occasionally, they'd impinge upon her at random intervals throughout the years. Some days in college, she'd think of her former infatuation with Marceline. And some days after college, she'd think of it again. And it irked her.

It wasn't as if they weren't in touch, but it wasn't as if they were friends anymore. They were back to the casual acquaintanceship that Bonnie had been so content with in the first place. And the strawberry blonde was perfectly fine with that except... the idea of something more with the bass player kept floating in and out of her subconscious, even though she was long over it.

It was a stupid high school crush, but somehow, though the love had faded, the thought of it never did. And Bonnie couldn't help but feel dumb every time Marceline crossed her mind. This wasn't some star-crossed romance. They weren't fated to be or anything. The reality was that Marceline was a friend who had politely declined the reciprocation of romantic feelings, end of story. For sanity's sake, it was time to put it to rest and just let it go already. One relationship that had never been was nothing to fret over. It wouldn't have worked out anyway, what with the tense social environment surrounding their attractions. The student president's parents were homophobes. So fact of the matter was, even though Bonnie felt it would've been so worth it, maintaining a relationship with Marceline would've been extremely inconvenient.

So the marine microbiologist finally resolved that, if a convenient love had existed anywhere for them, it certainly wasn't in this lifetime.

* * *

><p>What happened between the two girls at graduation was what had encumbered Bonnie with romantic hypotheticals for the years that followed.<p>

Their feelings were lifeblood streaming straight from their hearts, desperate to make their escape from Marceline's and Bonnie's lips, desperate to make their existence known in the form of words. But the insistent tourniquet of circumstance had long muffled the girls' mouths and maintained unbearable pressure on their supposed wounds, wounds that threatened to leak loving words. With dreams so close at hand, they shouldn't have possibly even dared to bleed freely.

But Marceline dared, for one second, to let at least one drop of her crimson passion to flutter past her lips onto Bonnie's.

In private, they dared to share a kiss, and Marceline explained herself.

"I really liked you. Hell, loved you even. I-I don't know. I just… you were student body president, this school isn't exactly gay-friendly, and I had hang-ups that I didn't want to talk about, so I'm sorry about that. But if it means anything… I would've said yes in better circumstances."

Bonnie closed her eyes, took a deep breath and nodded, shortly before enclosing her friend in a tender embrace.

"Alright then, Marceline. Thank you for telling me."

They never had a love story. But they liked to believe that their almost at least amounted to a stanza.


End file.
